The Department opened the Central Booking Facility in March 2005. At that time, the responsibility for booking arrestees transferred from the Police Department to the Department of Corrections.

The Central Booking Facility is responsible for the processing of all incoming adult arrestees and juvenile arrestees waived to adult jurisdiction in Howard County from various police agencies to include the Howard County Police Department, The Maryland State Police, The Department of Natural Resources Police Department, the Howard County Sheriff’s Department and the Maryland Transportation Authority Police. All arrestees are searched, fingerprinted, photographed and processed prior to being seen by a District Court Commissioner for an initial hearing.

In 2006, 4,334 adult arrestees were processed in the County. All arrestees are fingerprinted using live scan technology. These images are sent electronically to the Criminal Justice Information System (CJIS), where the fingerprints are used to identify the arrestee. The arrestee’s photograph is captured using digital technology and stored for identification purposes.

The Central Booking Facility is designed with a separate District Court Commissioner’s Office attached. The Booking Facility has sections to separately accommodate men and women arrestees that include both cells and holding areas. There are two (2) suicide precaution cells for arrestees. Additional rooms include a control center, interview room, photograph and fingerprint area, biographical information area, work area, property area, decontamination area, search area, supervisor’s office, bathrooms, computer server room, employee break area and initial hearing rooms.